Provincial gov’t needs P167-M to reach G2 basic sanitation level

By John Noel E. Herrera

The Iloilo Provincial Government needs at least P167 million to subsidize the cost of building toilets and handwashing facilities in order to reach the Grade 2 (G2) or the Basic Sanitation Status in the province.

“There’s still a lot more work ahead of us. To reach G2 by 2028, it requires ensuring toilets and handwashing facilities are available anywhere Ilonggos go to in our community — whether in schools, health centers, daycare centers and other public places,” Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said.

G2 or Basic Sanitation Status is the status of the community “wherein households, schools, child development centers, and public institutional facilities have their own sanitary toilets that are functional; and communities properly manage animal excreta and properly dispose of their solid waste, in addition to maintaining the norm that open defecation is unacceptable.”

Defensor added that the province can only achieve the G2 status if everyone will stay committed to prioritizing the sanitation programs and “with the continued support of our local chief executives and development partners.”

Data also indicated that there are over 137 schools in the province that do not have gender-segregated toilets and 16,730 households that are sharing a toilet with another household.

Defensor emphasized that the provincial government, through the special education funds, prioritized the building of toilets, wash areas, and water systems in schools.

“Right now, with the use of the fund, we are building classrooms for our schools complete with boys’ and girls’ toilets for every classroom. We prioritize requests for water systems and wash areas,” the governor added.

LIXIL Corporation is also donating 1,250 SaTo Pan toilets to the province as part of the partnership with UNICEF to make “affordable and appropriately designed toilets available to communities.”

On Nov 18, 2022, the provincial government unveiled the province’s “Zero Open Defecation” (ZOD) Seal after its successful campaign of making sure that all its 1,721 barangays have been certified as ZOD villages, during the World Toilet Day and Provincial Zero Open Defecation Celebration at Casa Real De Iloilo.

The provincial government awarded all 42 towns and one component city in Iloilo with plaques of recognition and P20,000 cash incentives “for their efforts and commitment in achieving the ZOD status.”

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) UNICEF-Philippines chief Carlos Vasquez also said that UNICEF will continue to support the province for showing its commitment to delivering better healthcare services and sanitation programs to the public.

“UNICEF not only provides support but it is also learning from the process here in Iloilo and bring that learning to other communities, at the same time, we take the learnings from other provinces and bring it here so that we can support the government and counterparts to make sure that we reach the G2 status,” Vasquez added.